1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for the treatment of a modified biomass stream. The treatment results in a sensitized or activated material that is susceptible to subsequent conversion of the biomass to a gas, liquid fuel and/or chemicals under mild conditions.
The modification of biomass, which is necessary to make the biomass susceptible to an electro-magnetic field can be achieved by genetically modifying the biomass or by contacting the biomass with solution comprising nano-particles of preferably electromagnetic material(s).
A separate embodiment of this invention is that the biomass is converted into specific building block chemicals which can be utilized to produce liquid fuels or specialty chemicals and/or polymers.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the supplies of readily accessible crude oil are dwindling, there is an increasing need for liquid fuels from other sources. Certain carbon-based energy carrier materials are abundantly available. Examples include coal, tar sand, shale oil, and biomass. Processes have been developed to convert these energy carrier materials to liquid fuels. Examples of such processes include pyrolysis and hydrothermal conversion. However, these processes require relatively severe conditions, which adversely affect the quality of the products. There is, therefore, a need for developing carbon-based energy carrier materials such as biomass that are sensitized (‘activated’), so as to be more susceptible to conversion to a liquid fuel and/or chemicals under relatively mild conditions.